Reuseable Spool

ABSTRACT

A reusable spool has a base and an upper flange. The base has a basal flange and an outer tube having a first end, a second end opposite to the first end, and multiple assembling portions. The first end of the outer tube is connected to the basal flange. The multiple assembling portions are connected to the outer tube, disposed adjacent to the second end of the outer tube, and disposed distantly away from the basal flange. The upper flange is screwed with the base and has a plate and a connecting portion. The plate is disposed parallel to and spaced from the basal flange, and abuts against the second end of the outer tube. The connecting portion is formed at a middle portion of the plate and connected to the multiple assembling portions. The reusable spool is refillable and environmentally friendly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a spool for winding up a filament, and more particularly to a reusable spool that is filament-refillable and is reusable.

2. Description of Related Art

3D printing is an additive manufacturing technology for rapid prototyping. 3D printing accumulates raw materials layer by layer based on 3D models designed by computer-aided software to create three dimensional objects. A common way adapted to 3D printing is fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology. A conventional 3D printer adopting FDM has a control assembly, a mechanical assembly, a nozzle, and a spool. The spool is utilized to wind up the filament. The filament is fused and squeezed out from the nozzle for printing.

However, a conventional spool is an integral and single component. Since rewinding up filament on the conventional spool is uneconomical, the conventional spool is discarded when the filament wound on it runs out. When discarded, the conventional non-reusable spool causes waste of manufacturing material and is unfriendly to the environment.

To overcome the shortcomings of the conventional spool, the present invention provides a reusable spool to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a reusable spool that is filament-refillable, is able to be reused, and is environmentally friendly.

The reusable spool comprises a base and an upper flange. The base has a basal flange and an outer tube having a first end, a second end opposite to the first end, and multiple assembling portions. The first end of the outer tube is connected to the basal flange. The multiple assembling portions are connected to the outer tube, are disposed adjacent to the second end of the outer tube, and are disposed distantly away from the basal flange. The upper flange is screwed with the base and has a plate and a connecting portion. The plate is disposed parallel to and spaced from the basal flange, and abuts against the second end of the outer tube. The connecting portion is formed at a middle portion of the plate and is connected to the multiple assembling portions. The reusable spool in accordance with the present invention is capable of filament refilling and is environmentally friendly.

Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional perspective view of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional side view of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional perspective view of a second embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the second embodiment in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional side view of the second embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of the present invention has a spool and a filament pack 30.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the spool has a base 10 and an upper flange 20. The base 10 has a basal flange 11, an outer tube 12, an inner tube 13, multiple assembling portions 131, and multiple connecting ribs 14. The basal flange 11 is an annular plate. The outer tube 12 has a first end and a second end that are opposite each other. The first end of the outer tube 12 is connected to the basal flange 11. The outer tube 12 is erectly disposed on the basal flange 11.

With reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the inner tube 13 is coaxially disposed within the outer tube 12. The multiple assembling portions 131 are disposed between the outer tube 12 and the inner tube 13, are disposed adjacent to the second end of the outer tube 12, are separately arranged around the inner tube 13, and are connected to the inner tube 13. The multiple assembling portions 131 each respectively have multiple threaded holes. The inner tube 13 has two ends and multiple engaging recesses 132. The two ends of the inner tube 13 are opposite each other. One of the two ends of the inner tube 13 faces to the second end of the outer tube 12, is lower than the second end of the outer tube 12, and is distantly away from the basal flange 11. The multiple engaging recesses 132 are separately formed at one of the two opposite ends of the inner tube 13, and are distantly away from the basal flange 11. Each one of the multiple engaging recesses 132 is disposed between two adjacent assembling portions 131 of the multiple assembling portions 131.

The multiple connecting ribs 14 are disposed between the outer tube 12 and the inner tube 13. The multiple connecting ribs 14 are connected to both the outer tube 12 and the inner tube 13. The outer tube 12 and the inner tube 13 are connected to each other via the multiple connecting ribs 14 and the multiple assembling portions 131.

With reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the upper flange 20 is detachably connected to the base 10 and has a plate 21 and a connecting portion 22. The plate 21 is annular, is disposed parallel to the basal flange 11, is spaced from the basal flange 11, and abuts against the second end of the outer tube 12. The connecting portion 22 is formed at a middle portion of the plate 21. The connecting portion 22 has a tubular wall 221, a bottom plate 222, multiple reinforcing ribs 223, multiple screwing holes 224, and multiple engaging protrusions 225. The tubular wall 221 has two opposite ends. One of the two opposite ends of the tubular wall 221 is connected to the plate 21. The bottom plate 222 is connected to the other one of the two opposite ends of the tubular wall 221 and has a bottom face facing to the basal flange 11. Each one of the multiple reinforcing ribs 223 is triangular and is connected to the tubular wall 221 and the bottom plate 222. The multiple reinforcing ribs 223 are annularly and separately arranged. The multiple screwing holes 224 are annularly defined through the bottom plate 222. The multiple engaging protrusions 225 are annularly and separately formed on the bottom face of the bottom plate 222.

The tubular wall 221 and the bottom plate 222 of the connecting portion 22 are inserted into the outer tube 12. The bottom plate 222 abuts against the inner tube 13, and the multiple engaging protrusions 225 respectively engage with the multiple engaging recesses 132 of the inner tube 13. The multiple reinforcing ribs 223 are respectively aligned with the multiple connecting ribs 14. Multiple bolts 130 are respectively mounted through the multiple screwing holes 224 and are respectively screwed with the multiple threaded holes of the multiple assembling portions 131 to connect the connecting portion 22 and the multiple assembling portions 131 and to assemble the base 10 and the upper flange 20. The multiple engaging protrusions 225 and the multiple engaging recesses 132 that respectively engage with each other prevents the upper flange 20 from rotating relative to the base 10 and make the upper flange 20 securely assembled to the base 10.

With reference to FIG. 3, the filament pack 30 has a filament and multiple restricting ties 31. The filament is wound up and the multiple restricting ties 31 are wrapped around the filament. To refill the reusable spool in accordance with the present invention, the filament pack 30 is mounted around the outer tube 12 of the base 10, and then the upper flange 20 is assembled to the base 10. After the reusable spool in accordance with the present invention is refilled, the multiple restricting ties 31 are removed from the filament, and the reusable spool is assembled to a 3D printer for feeding the filament to the printer. When the filament is running out, the reusable spool in accordance with the present invention can be easily refilled without replacing the base 10 and the upper flange 20. With the upper flange 20 that is detachably assembled to the base 10, the reusable spool in accordance with the present invention can be refilled and is reusable and environmentally friendly.

With reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, a second embodiment of the present invention also has the spool and the filament pack 40. The second embodiment is substantially the same as the first embodiment. A difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that, in the second embodiment, the filament pack 40 further has a replaceable spool 41 for winding up the filament of the filament pack 40. The replaceable spool 41 has two flanges 411 and a tube 412. The tube 412 has two opposite ends and the two flanges 411 are respectively connected to the two opposite ends of the tube 412. When the spool in the second embodiment is refilled, the replaceable spool 41 with the filament wound on it is mounted around the outer tube 12 of the base 10, and the tube 412 of the replaceable spool 41 is mounted around the outer tube 12. In the second embodiment, the replaceable spool 41 may be made of recycled paper or other degradable materials.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A reusable spool comprising: a base having a basal flange; an outer tube having a first end and a second end that are opposite each other; the first end of the outer tube connected to the basal flange; and multiple assembling portions connected to the outer tube, disposed adjacent to the second end of the outer tube, and disposed distantly away from the basal flange; an upper flange detachably connected to the base and having a plate disposed parallel to and spaced from the basal flange, and abutting against the second end of the outer tube; a connecting portion formed at a middle portion of the plate and connected to the multiple assembling portions; and multiple bolts mounted through the upper flange and respectively screwed with the multiple assembling portions.
 2. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base has an inner tube coaxially disposed within the outer tube; and multiple connecting ribs disposed between the outer tube and the inner tube and connected to both the outer tube and the inner tube; and the multiple assembling portions are disposed between the outer tube and the inner tube, separately arranged around the inner tube, and connected to the inner tube.
 3. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 2, wherein the multiple assembling portions each respectively have multiple threaded holes; the connecting portion has multiple screwing holes; and the multiple bolts are respectively mounted through the multiple screwing holes and respectively screwed with the multiple threaded holes to assemble the base and the upper flange.
 4. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 3, wherein the inner tube has two opposite ends and multiple engaging recesses separately formed at one of the two opposite ends of the inner tube; and the connecting portion has multiple engaging protrusions respectively engaging with the multiple engaging recesses.
 5. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 2, wherein the inner tube has two opposite ends and multiple engaging recesses separately formed at one of the two opposite ends of the inner tube; and the connecting portion has multiple engaging protrusions respectively engaging with the multiple engaging recesses.
 6. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 1, wherein a filament pack is mounted around the outer tube and disposed between the basal flange and the upper flange.
 7. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 2, wherein a filament pack is mounted around the outer tube and disposed between the basal flange and the upper flange.
 8. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 3, wherein a filament pack is mounted around the outer tube and disposed between the basal flange and the upper flange.
 9. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 4, wherein a filament pack is mounted around the outer tube and disposed between the basal flange and the upper flange.
 10. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 5, wherein a filament pack is mounted around the outer tube and disposed between the basal flange and the upper flange.
 11. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 6, wherein the filament pack has at least one restricting tie wrapped around a filament of the filament pack.
 12. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 7, wherein the filament pack has at least one restricting tie wrapped around a filament of the filament pack.
 13. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 8, wherein the filament pack has at least one restricting tie wrapped around a filament of the filament pack.
 14. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 9, wherein the filament pack has at least one restricting tie wrapped around a filament of the filament pack.
 15. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 10, wherein the filament pack has at least one restricting tie wrapped around a filament of the filament pack.
 16. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 6, wherein the filament pack has a replaceable spool for winding up a filament of the filament pack; the replaceable spool has a tube mounted around the outer tube and having two opposite ends; and two flanges respectively connected to the two opposite ends of the tube.
 17. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 7, wherein the filament pack has a replaceable spool for winding up a filament of the filament pack; and the replaceable spool has a tube mounted around the outer tube and having two opposite ends; and two flanges respectively connected to the two opposite ends of the tube.
 18. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 8, wherein the filament pack has a replaceable spool for winding up a filament of the filament pack; and the replaceable spool has a tube mounted around the outer tube and having two opposite ends; and two flanges respectively connected to the two opposite ends of the tube.
 19. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 9, wherein the filament pack has a replaceable spool for winding up a filament of the filament pack; and the replaceable spool has a tube mounted around the outer tube and having two opposite ends; and two flanges respectively connected to the two opposite ends of the tube.
 20. The reusable spool as claimed in claim 10, wherein the filament pack has a replaceable spool for winding up a filament of the filament pack; and the replaceable spool has a tube mounted around the outer tube and having two opposite ends; and two flanges respectively connected to the two opposite ends of the tube. 